Conduit hanger



1960 R. w. LA PINE 2,921,761

CONDUIT HANGER Filed Oct. 2, 1956 IN V EN TOR.

E03 Z0." Lafine ATTORNEYS United States Patent CONDUIT HANGER Roy W. La Pine, Paw Paw, Mich.

Application October 2, 1956, Serial No. 613,451

2 Claims. (Cl. 24848.1)

This invention relates to conduit hangers or supports, and particularly to hangers and the like for use with eavestroughs and downspouts on buildings.

In general, the invention comprises a hanger structure formed of a single flat sheet of metal provided with a notch in one edge thereof complementary to a portion of the conduit to be engaged thereby. The other edges of the sheet are provided with lateral edge flanges one of which is provided with openings through which nails, screws or the like may be positioned to secure the hanger to a supporting structure. The flanges on the edges adjacent the notch extend longitudinally outwardly of the member as free strap portions and are adapted to embrace the conduit and hold the same in the adjacent notch. The straps are preferably provided with interengaging tab and slot means whereby their ends may be secured together in embracing relation to the conduit to hold the same in the desired position relative to the hanger.

By making the hanger structure of malleable sheet metal and by providing one of its flanges with openings and leaving that flange free to be bent relative to the hanger, applicant has produced a structure of extreme ease of installation since the perforated flange may be bent to extend generally coplanar to the main body portion and nails may thus be easily driven through the openings to secure the hanger to a building or the like. After securement, the hanger structure may be bent about the edge of the flange secured to the building and thus brought into position to properly engage a conduit already in position adjacent the building or to be installed at a later time.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an integral sheet metal hanger structure of substantially rigid character when installed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel hanger structure characterized by extreme ease of installation and designed to securely hold a conduit thereon.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel hanger structure designed to permit extremely easy mounting on a support.

A further object is to provide a novel hanger structure of extreme simplicity of construction and one economical to produce.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a flat blank of sheet material that can be easily bent or folded, on the job, to form a conduit hanger.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank of sheet material from which the conduit hanger of the present invention is formed;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the completed conduit hanger mounted on a supporting structure and showing a conduit therein in dotted outline;

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Fig. 3 is a fragmentary schematic view of a different manner of employing the hanger of Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary schematic view of a modified form of conduit hanger adapted to support a particular type of eavestrough.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the blank shown therein is preferably formed of sheet metal of the required thickness, preferably of a corrosion-resisting character, and comprises a main body portion or member 2 having edge boundaries 4, 6, 8 and 10. The edge 10 comprises a notch, in this instance semicircular, complementary to one-half of a conduit to be supported thereby. The boundary edge 4 is integrally joined to a tab 12 and boundary edges 6 and 8 are integrally joined to tabs 14 and 16, respectively. The tab 12 is provided with a pair of openings 18 therethrough. The tabs 14 and 16. extend. longitudinally outwardly of the body portion 2 to define freely extending strap portions 15 and 17 extending outwardly of the edges of the notch 20. The strap portion 17 of tab 16 is provided with a transverse slot or opening 22 adjacent its outer end, whereas the strap portion 15 of tab 14 is narrowed to define a narrow tang 24 at its outer end. The length of the strap portion. 15 of tab 14, from its point of tangency with the edge 10,to the shoulders 26, plus the length of the strap portion 17, of tab 16, from its point of tan: gency with the edge 10 to the outer edge of slot 22, is substantially equal to one-half the circumference of the circle of edge 10.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the blank of Fig. 1 is shown in its finally folded and installed position. The tab 14 of Fig. 1 is shown folded downwardly relative to the main portion 2 to define a downwardly extending edge flange with strap 15 extending endwise therefrom. In like manner the tab 16 is folded downwardly to define a lateral flange at the edge 8 with its strap portion 17 extending endwise therefrom. The flange 12' is folded downwardly and lies against the outer surface of a supporting structure 28, which may be a building or the like.' Suitable nails or other securing means 30 are driven through the openings 18 of the flange 12 and thus secure the hanger to the structure 28. As shown in Fig. 2, a conduit 32, which may be a conventional downspout, lies nested within the notch 10, previously described. The extending strap portions 15 and 17 of the flanges 14 and 16 are shown bent around the downspout 32 in embracing relation thereto and holding the downspout firmly seated in the notch 10. The tang 24 extends through slot 22 and is bent backwardly to secure the ends of the strap portions together and thus lock the downspout 32 to the hanger which, in turn, is secured to the building 28.

Obviously, the tabs 12, 14 and 16 may be bent to define the downwardly extending flanges at the time the hanger is installed in its final position or they may be prebent at the time of manufacture.

The end portions of the tab 12 are not perpendicular to the edge 4 but converge outwardly slightly. As is obvious from Fig. 2, the ends of the flange 12 are not secured to adjacent ends of flanges 14 and 16 whereby the flange 12 may be left in substantially coplanar relation to the portion 2, if the hanger is bent to final form on the job, or may be left in that position even if the flanges 14 and 16 are bent at the time of manufacture.

With the flange 12 in the initial position referred to, the entire hanger structure may be placed flat'against the outer surface of the structure 28 and the nails 30 may thereby be readily driven through the openings 18 without interference from other portions of the hanger and without the danger of mutilating the hanger structure by a misdirected hammer blow. After the nails 30 are driven completely in and the flange 12 thus firmly secured to the building 28, the hanger may be pulled downwardly to etfect bending of the flange along edge boundary 4 to the position of Fig. 2. The described manner of installation can be performed even if the downspout 32 is already in the indicated position relative to building 28. Thereafter it is only necessary to bend the strap portions of the flanges14 and 16 and secure their ends together in the manner shown. By providing the converging ends on flange 12, the hanger may be bent downwardly to the position of Fig. 2, after securementof the flange 12 to the building, without danger of interfence between the ends of the flanges 14 and'16 and adjacent ends of the flange 12.

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates a diflerent manner of use of the hanger structure of Figs. 1 and 2. In the installation shown in Fig. 3, the hanger structure, which may be identical to that of Fig. 2, is mounted on a bracket34 secured to a building 36 and having an upper supporting edge 38. The flange 12 is secured, by fastening means 40, to the upper edge of the bracket 34 and a generally semicylindrical eavestrough 42 is seated in the notch in the manner shown. The strap portions and 17 of flanges 14 and 16 are bent to lie across the open top of the eavestrough 42 and the tang 24 serves to lock the ends of the strap portions 7 together to hold the eavestrough securely in the notch 10.

Fig. 4 shows a modified form of hanger structure having a body portion 44 provided with a notch 46 formed complementary to the transverse sectional out line of an eavestrough 48. The body portion 44 is provided'with edge flanges 54 52, 54 and 56. The flanges 50-56 may be formed from integral tabs exactly as described in connection with Fig. 1. The flanges 54 and 56 are provided with extending strap portions 58 and 60. Tang 62 is formed on the end of strap 60 and a slot 64 is formed in strap 58. The flange 50 is provided with openings for receiving fastening means 66. The structure and manner of use of this modification is clearly obvious from Fig. 4 and need not be described in any further detail.

While a limited number of modifications of the invention are shown and described herein, it is to be 4 understood that they are merely illustrative of the invention and do not define the limits thereof. It is contemplated that the invention encompass any and all modifications falling within'the scope of the appended claims. A

I claim:

1. An integral sheet metal blank for a conduit hanger, comprising; a substantially flat body portion having an edge defining a notch complementary to a portion of a conduit to be received therein, integral tabs on the edges of said body portion adjacent said one edge and adapted to be bent to define lateral flanges at said edges, said tabs on the edges adjacent said notch each having an integral projecting strap portion coplanar therewith, said portions extending away from said body portion adjacent opposite ends of said notch and in the direction of their corresponding edges.

2. A hanger construction, comprising: a generally flat member formed of sheet material and having one edge thereof shaped to provide a notch generally complementary in configuration to a portion of. a conduit to be received therein; laterally extending edge flanges provided on the remaining edges thereof with two of said flanges being provided on edges adjacent said one edge and on opposite sides thereof, each of said two flanges having an end portion extending freely beyond said one edge in thedirection of said adjacent edge and adapted to be bent inwardly toward said one edge to em- I conduit is positioned in said notch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 441,838 Greenfield Dec. 2, 1890 1,085,421 Hiller Ian. 27, 1914 1,664,321 Quist 'Mar. 27, 1928 FOREIGNVPATENTS 406,968 Germany Dec. 8, 1924 

